Collaborative Applications

This was our last week to be introduced to new technologies. As the semester comes to a close we will be focusing more on developing our individual plans to integrate technology into our classrooms during our internship experience. Some of the different collaborative applications we discussed included Wikis, Google Docs, and Skype. Each application has strengths and weaknesses, so depending on what you are trying to accomplish will determine which is the best fit for your particular project.
Wikis are web pages that anyone can update or add to they are a useful resource in the classroom in order to keep everything organized, for example, we use a wiki in class to easily link to all of the assignments we have completed. Google Docs allow for presentations to become interactive and viewable by a variety of people regardless of the physical distance between them. Skype is an Internet phone service that allows people to easily communicate across the country or across continents.
Personally, I can see myself utilizing Google Docs the most out of all of the applications because it would allow immediate feedback and questions from my students while I was presenting a particular topic. It would also allow the students to comment on each others thoughts in a low pressure environment instead of raising their hand in front of the entire class.

Mock Interviews

Today's class was a change of pace but a very valuable experience. We gathered in a conference room and held a large group interview. Joe had a list of questions prepared and each student in the class had the opportunity to answer a question and receive immediate feedback. It was a helpful experience because it simulated a potentially stressful situation, and provided us with constructive feedback. I now have a much better idea of how to successfully prepare for an interview and the confidence to calm my nerves during the actual interview process. Joe also made us an excellent dinner-thank you very much! It was very useful to practice possible ways we can articulate different technologies we are learning about in class to prospective employers.

Podcasting

Today we explored adding sound through the use of podcasts. There are many useful applications for podcasts in K-12 education. Some examples include:
-supporting language development (practice for both ESL students as well as students trying to learn a foreign language)
-literacy enhancement (book talks, discussions, and reviews)
-recording class discussions that students can listen to for additional review or to catch up if they missed class
Podcasts can also be used to creatively enhance group projects for any subject. Allows the teacher to assess students' understanding, as well as, accommodating students who are better at expressing their ideas verbally rather than in writing.
From personal experience in my college classes I found it very helpful to have lectures recorded as mp3 files that I could access off Angel because it helped me take notes and refresh my memory of specific examples used in class before an exam. I am a much more visual learner so being able to listen to the same lecture more than once really helped me process and learn the information.

Here is a link to a segment of our class podcast about our ideas for our Tech Integration Plans.

More Images

I placed a creative commons license on my blog, and set up a Flickr account to store my pictures. I also searched for a picture of my favorite flower: gerber daisies, using FlickrCC and posted it to my blog in order to provide myself with more practice in properly using and citing images from the web. I have learned that all images are fully copyrighted unless otherwise noted, and I was never exposed to the proper way to attribute an image until this class. I have been googling images then copying and pasting them into various presentations and projects without ever thinking twice about properly documenting where I got the image from.
This means that in the future I will be more careful about where I copy images from, as well as, the way I document the source of the image. I think this may pose a challenge to students in lower elementary because they would not understand the intricacies of the copyright laws. I think older students would be interested to learn that there is a process for citing images just like if information from a book is used in a paper.
I think it would be a positive learning experience for students although probably not something they will be thrilled about actually having to complete everytime they use an image from the Internet. Overall, I think it will take a lot of practice before I am comfortable with this process of attribution for images from the Web.

Photo Attribution:
Original image: "Gerber Daisies"
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/37/76726538_387278175a_m.jpg
by: QuiteLucid

Adding Images

During class we practiced properly adding images so the sources are clearly cited and we are not infringing on anyone's copyright to their images. The picture on the left is from Professor Freidhoff's Flickr account: Erickson Hall on campus where our class meets!

Organizing the Internet

During class last week we covered different ways the Internet can be organized, and information can be easily shared with others. There are many professional as well as personal applications I can see for the organizational tools we discussed. The first was Google Calendar which allows you to create multiple calendars, combine them, import information from other public calendars, and choose which ones you would like to make public. Secondly, we discussed social bookmarking. I set up a del.icio.us account that allows me to keep all of my useful web resources in one location, as well as, access them from anywhere and share them easily with others. It is also easy to organize all of the resources with labeling so they are easy to find.
These tools will help me personally organize the professional links I currently have for teaching in addition to providing an easy format to add to in the future. I think this would also be a neat tool to use in the classroom for students performing research so that they can keep all of the links for a particular topic in one place and the teacher could easily check the validity of the sources being used. It would also be helpful for students assigned to work on a group project.
I know from personal experience my mom, who is a teacher, would really like to use a tool like this because she is always forgetting web addresses that she has bookmarked on our home computer when she is working at school.
Calendars are another indispensable tool for teachers, students, and parents because everyone is very busy, and at least in my family, trying to keep up with several different schedules can be overwhelming. It is also easy to misplace paper copies of newsletters and keep them up to date, so if a teacher is using a classroom calendar through Google information can be easily added or changed as necessary and easily viewed by parents. Personally I love keeping detailed calendars because it helps me to plan my time in advance, as well as, making sure I don't forget anything important.